Facts about Heavy Mineral Mining

The heavy mineral sand mining industry deals with mining of minerals such as Zircon, Ilmenite, Rutile, Garnet and other Titanium dioxide products. Most people are unaware of the specifics of the heavy mineral mining industry. Many don’t even know what the minerals are used for. Here are a few things you might have not known about heavy minerals.

First of all, they are called heavy minerals because of their high specific gravity. They are found on the beaches or shores of rivers and seas. They are washed off from the sea rocks due to the continuous wave action and are deposited on the sea shore in form of placer minerals. Beach sand mining does not have any impact on the health of either the workers engaged in mining or on those living in the surroundings.

Zircon is one of the most abundantly available mineral, the naturally rich beach-sands of Kerala and adjoining Chennai coasts contain an average 5% to 10% Zircon. Zircon is part of your daily household items too; it is used in items such as knives, scissors and golf irons because of its durability and biocompatibility. Ilmenite and Rutile are the most important sources of titanium and contribute to about 90% of Titanium production in a year.

One of the most renowned mining companies of India includes V.V. Mineral, which is based in Tamil Nadu. V.V. Minerals engages in mining activity of minerals such as Zircon, Garnet, Ilmenite and Rutile. They are Indias largest mining manufacturer and exporters of Garnet.

Most people assume Garnets to be dark, red stone, but garnets come in every color except blue. Garnet abrasive was also once used to make sandpaper. Rutile is highly used in manufacturing welding electrode. Rutile electrodes are easy to weld with and have very negligible spatter loss.